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D'Agostino Inc. Is Ready For Its Closeup

Dan D’Agostino Inc., having just
shipped its first audio component, will promote the product
through dealer events in the coming weeks while developing
two more products.

The company’s first component, the $45,000/pair Momentum
monoblock amplifier, is said to combine extremely
high power output in a compact 4 inch by 12.5 inch by 18-
inch chassis with low power consumption.
The amp is rated at 300 watts into 8
ohms, 600 watts into 4 ohms, and 1,200
watts into 2 ohms but draws less than 1
watt of power in standby mode, whereas
many other high-powered amplifiers
draw 100 watts or more in standby, the
company said.

The first production run has been
sold, and a second production run is
underway, the company said.

The product’s price was raised from
an initial $42,000/pair to $45,000/pair
because of rising aluminum and copper
prices.

To promote the Momentum, the
company has lined up retailers to host
promotional events at which the company’s
founder, industry veteran Dan D’Agostino, will
demonstrate the product. Innovative Audio of Manhattan
will host its event on April 27. HiFi House plans a May
4 event at its Jenkintown, Pa., store and a May 5 event
at its Wilmington, Del., store. Seattle-based Definitive
Audio Video also plans an event, a D’Agostino spokesperson
said.

In the U.S., the company has six dealers so far, including
Music Systems of Doral, Fla., and JS Audio of Bethesda,
Md., and the company is in talks with additional dealers.
The company also has 22 international distributors.

The company chose the U.S. dealers based on “their
passion for the world’s finest audio products, and for their
ability to demonstrate the full capabilities of these amplifiers,”
D’Agostino said.

To go with the amp, D’Agostino plans to add two preamps
to the Momentum line. One is designed for the purist
audiophile and is targeted for June shipment. It will be
an analog preamp that matches the Momentum amp in
size and style, with its volume control matching the design
of the amp’s meter. The company also plans a lifestyle preamp
at a later date.

As for the current monoblock amp,
the company attributes the amp’s compact
size to a cooling technology that
uses copper heat sinks, whose thermal
conductivity is 91 percent greater than
that of aluminum, making it possible to
use smaller heat sinks, the company
said. For additional efficiency, the heat
sinks use venturis instead of fins. The
venturis are 0.75 inches at the top and
bottom but 0.5 inches in the middle.
As heat expands the air at the top of
the venturi, the air gets pushed upward
and pulls up air in from the bottom
of the venturi.

Most 300-watt monoblocks are the size
of an air conditioner, the company said,
but the Momentum fits into an equipment
rack, the company said.

Each amp features a front power meter inspired by
the design of a Breguet watch face. The large meter
and the copper heat sinks were designed to differentiate
the amp from other high-end amplifiers. No fasteners
are visible from front, back, top, or sides.

D’Agostino co-founded high-end audio component
supplier Krell in 1980. He launched D’Agostino Inc. in
2010 after he and Krell co-founder Rondi D’Agostino filed
a lawsuit in 2009 against private-equity fund KP Capital
Partners, which purchased an equity stake in Krell in April
of that year. The two D’Agostinos allege they lost their
management roles at Krell in violation of their employment
agreements.